$200 million campaign to fund scholarships begins at University of the Cumberlands

In an effort to continue providing scholarships for its students and to keep going to college as affordable as possible, University of the Cumberlands has announced its new $200 million scholarship campaign. The university has committed to matching donations up to $100 million.

Last month, the university received its largest-ever single donation: $25 million from the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation.

The Cumberlands Commitment Endowed Scholarship Campaign seeks to collect $100 million in donations which the university will then match. 

According to university president Dr. Larry L. Cockrum in an article on the University of the Cumberlands website, “This is the single most significant and transformational project ever undertaken by this university. This campaign will have a lasting impact on the lives of our students, allowing them to focus on their studies, knowing that financial constraints will not hinder their progress.”

This is not the first attempt the university has made in recent years to keep its tuition and fees affordable for students. In 2019, tuition was lowered by more than 50%, and in 2020, textbooks were made free. The One Price Promise was also introduced, aiming to eliminate additional fees.

Cockrum hopes that these changes will target the subset of students who would most benefit from reduced costs for a college education. He said, “The group of students this will help the most are those who come from hardworking families that make too much money to qualify for federal Pell Grants, but who also cannot afford the out-of-pocket costs of a college education without going into significant debt.”

The money collected in The Cumberlands Commitment Endowed Scholarship Campaign will be disbursed to students through scholarships beginning in 2024.

For more information about University of the Cumberlands, visit the school’s website.